[ad_1]
“Confidence has eroded” and “tensions have been created” as a result of Boris Johnson’s decision to void parts of his Brexit deal with the EU, Ireland’s prime minister told Sky News.
Micheal Martin told Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy that he had recorded Dublin’s “profound disappointment” with the UK prime minister’s approach, as well as his “outspoken opposition,” in an earlier phone call.
“It was unilateral, that is not a way to approach difficult and complex negotiations of this type,” he said.
Mr Martin added: “In Europe there is a lot of anger towards this and the way it happened.
“In Ireland there clearly is, I expressed it.”
The controversial internal market bill was published after the government admitted that it potentially wanted to “violate international law”.
Its aim is to distribute the powers that are brought from Brussels to Westminster and the delegated administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the Commons earlier this week that the proposed Brexit-related legislation “violates international law in a very specific and limited way.”
But key components may contradict the Withdrawal Agreement approved by parliament last year, by allowing ministers to hand over the power to determine rules on state aid and goods traveling between Northern Ireland and Britain.
Martin said Lewis’s comments had left politicians in Dublin “appalled”.
“I have never seen that before in a parliament, where a member of a government openly said that this is violating international law,” he added.
Looking at the bigger picture, as UK and EU negotiators try to reach a free trade agreement before the end of the transition period in December, Martin said there is a “short window” to reach a deal.
Analysis: Irish Prime Minister gives pessimistic note amid diplomatic fallout on plans to overturn Brexit deal
By Stephen Murphy, Ireland Correspondent
The Taoiseach’s comments to Sky News tonight highlight the diplomatic consequences of Brandon Lewis’ remarks yesterday in the House of Commons and the publication of the new bill today.
The Taoiseach spoke to Sky News moments after hanging up the phone with his British counterpart. Clearly, it was a difficult and tense phone call that took place. The Taoiseach described it as frank, which is a well-known diplomatic code for difficult conversations that must be difficult.
He said Brandon Lewis’s statement had left people in the Irish Parliament in Dublin “appalled,” he said, that it had been made unilaterally without consultation. It had eroded trust and created tensions around the talks. He also spoke of “a lot of anger” in Europe over this.
On the subject of future talks to find a trade deal in the next month or so, the Taoiseach said he was not optimistic about a deal.
He struck a pessimistic note, although he did not rule out that the issues would be resolved in the form of the emergency joint committee meeting. But tonight he spoke of his deep disappointment at the British move and said he could not understand its rationale.
